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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25415119">Arya Maria Stark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrilliantAltruism/pseuds/BrilliantAltruism'>BrilliantAltruism</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arya Stark-centric, BAMF Arya Stark, Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:27:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,806</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25415119</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrilliantAltruism/pseuds/BrilliantAltruism</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Arya Stark comes into the world kicking and screaming, tiny little hands balling into tight fists, and grey eyes glaring with the wildness of her family sigil. Arya Stark was born with the wildness of wolves and the memories of a lifetime. And she awakens into a world unlike her own. </p><p>Or </p><p>Arya Stark is reborn into a world filled with superheroes, technology, magic and gods. She's familiar with only half of those things, so it's a good thing her father has the other half covered. </p><p>Drabble-fic</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arya Stark/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>602</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Arya Maria Stark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Chapter 1.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sir" Jarvis pesters "there is an urgent package waiting for you outside, quickly sir" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright alright I'm moving!" Tony yawns. It is December 1999, he has just woken up with the most dreadful hangover and he wished more than anything to sleep in more and not be awake at 9 in the morning. But here he is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walks to the front door and opens it, scratching his belly as he pinpoints a deliveryman or parcel on his driveway. There was none. He looked down to the ground by his feet as he hears a little murmur. It's a baby. In a basket. A baby in a basket is by his feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jarvis" he whispers faintly "what the hell is this?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The woman who dropped by left a letter in the basket, perhaps you should bring the baby in and read it?" He does what his reasonable AI suggests because his mind isn't functioning with a hangover and an impossible situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sets the baby down beside him on the sofa and pulls out the letter to read: </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Mr. Stark,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This baby is the product of a drunken night between you and my sister. A situation you are probably familiar with. My sister has always had an ailing constitution, and a baby did not help in the matters. She died in childbirth. My sister refused to name you as father to our parents, but she did whisper it to me in her last breaths. Mr. Stark, my parents do not want the baby but in respect to my sister I could not allow her baby to live in a care home. I would take my sister's baby in if I could but I am only fourteen. I beg of you, please keep this child, keep her safe and loved, if not for my sister then for yourself. Do a blood test or whatever, but she is yours and I only ask that you love and protect her as she should be. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Her name is Arya Maria Stark.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony gulps his nerves. He puts the letter down on the coffee table and nudges up beside the baby pulling the little blanket slightly off her face, before slowly carrying her into his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She is a tiny thing. Her hair was brown and curly, like his. It was a tiny sliver of hope to look for similarities in a baby that could possibly be his. He knows not to expect anything until a test but still, he doesn't really think it will go about any other way because when she opens her eyes, he sees his mother's eyes reflected back at him. It is an ice grey that he had only ever seen on his mother. This is his child. In his heart of hearts, he knows it to be true. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I've been craving for a crossover fic between these two and I've always thought it was such a shame I couldn't find any that used the opportunity of the Stark name being in both fictional world's. I also love Arya and really want more Arya-centric fics. So this is just self-gratification. Enjoy! </p><p>Also, this is my first fic on this site!</p><p>Pairings might change, I'm indecisive.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. It's a whole new world</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Arya has given her life and identity to the Many Faced God. Death had always been an inevitable ending to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is with great surprise that she wakes up once more, and not in the way that Jon did. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya wakes up to a brand new world, far more vast than the seas she traveled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She relearns and learns everything with a new fervor, and her new father was all to keen to encourage her in any way possible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This world was not run on wars and swords and men. It is a strange world with buildings that reach the sky and roads smoother and flatter than Sansa's skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony Stark was perhaps the single most indulgent parent she had ever seen, but mayhaps it was the way of this world. He took care of her in ways women did and men usually did not do. Everything she took an interest in was encouraged to an excessive degree, and he never denied her knowledge; not when she wanted to learn to fight like men or shoot like hunters or ride like knights, things women did not do in her world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe this world was different or maybe it was her father. Her new father could certainly afford the freedoms she enjoyed. He was a rich man, a creator, an inventor, an innovator. She would be proud to call him father. She is proud. She also loves this man who loves her with his life. He looks at her with a devotion she had only seen men give their firstborn son. As if she is his hope for the future. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still she takes to this new freedom with fervour and demands to learn all the things she could not do as a woman in her world. And her father only indulges in her with a hearty laugh. She begins to love this new world, her new father.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her previous family still held a place in her heart, that will never change. And she will always honour their lives, but she has long since parted with their memory even before her journey away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She finds it humourous that she was still born with the same name though. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She'd traded one world for another, yet her identity, that which she had been forced to abandon in one life at one point, had followed her into this new life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps this is the gift of the Many Faced God. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm going to start out with three chapters cus why not?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I've never loved like this before</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tony POV</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tony Stark has not loved like this before. He loves his daughter something fierce and endless. For her he would clean up his act, for her he will build a better future, for her he will be worthy. And that perhaps, changes everything and nothing at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He is still a weapons inventor, a war mogul. But he opens up new departments in Stark Tech, he wants a hand in every tech pie in every industry. He will leave a legacy for his daughter, one she can be proud of. He is slowly trying to lean away from weapons. It is a slow process, and none that knows him knows of his intentions, but it will be done. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The announcement of his daughter is brief, and he puts in exorbitant amounts of effort to keep her away from the spotlight and media. In every interview asked after her, he shuts up completely and begins to walk away. He does this again and again until their lesson is learnt. Never ask about his daughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Noone has ever seen a picture of his daughter and nobody ever gets her name. He keeps it that way for her safety as he remembers all the kidnappings in his childhood. He swears never to put her in that situation, to live through that trauma. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not even Obadiah sees her for any explicit amounts of time. He is undeniably a helicopter parent. He works from home in most cases, meetings done in Skype calls. When needed he will make an appearance to the company or to the public, and he hires a nanny he has vetted a hundred times over. Her name is Oshka, she is 64 years old and is Russian.  His daughter learns russian as a second language and it pushes him to teach her Italian for the sake of his mother. He even cleans up his playboy persona because he doesn't want his daughter to be burdened with such rumours and he certainly doesn't want her to experience a father who brings home a different woman every night. And in all honesty, he is far too busy caring for the most beautiful girl in the world -in his opinion - so why would he need to look at any other woman? Rhodey can call him a doting parent all he wants but he knows that she has him wrapped around her finger too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His daughter is a strange one, he knows this well. She ran before she could walk and her first words were a sentence. He thinks she is a genius and is proud and worried in the same vein. He knows what being a genius is like, and he hopes to prepare her for her trials. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya walks with light feet and likes to scare people when she appears out of nowhere. She likes to read books on history and mythology especially about wars and dragons. She likes to play fight with the toy sword he got her, he wonders if she learns her moves from online videos because he knows she is moving with learned skill. He finds his daughter has an excellent head for math and he takes joy in teaching her equations and sums a girl her age should have no knowledge of yet, it is how they bond. She is so good, she is sometimes faster than he is at problem solving. He gets her to love physics and chemistry soon after, he is being indulgent to himself, he wants to be able to bond with her on things he knows like the back of his hand. He thinks she notices his intentions like she notices everything else, but she follows him just the same. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knows Arya is observant. That she watches before she acts. He thinks she definitely didn't get that from him. He wants to give Arya the world, but he knows she can take it for herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony never thought he would have a daughter that he loved above all else. But he does. And he will burn and drown and die before she is ever harmed. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Who do they see? A ghost.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Arya is four, Tony teaches her how to play the piano that sits on the platform of their living. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He teaches her the same way his mother taught him, with Arya on his lap and his hands guiding her tiny fingers across the flat black and white of the keys.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Your grandmother loved music" he tells her "and I who loved my mother loved music in turn. She would take me to operas and concerts and made sure every day was filled with sound." Arya finds a small sad smile on his face and resists the urge to speak "the public knows that I love rock and roll but they don't know that it was my mother who influenced me on that" he says secretively "she was a lady socialite who liked classical music in public, but at home, with me, she was a carefree soul who loved all kinds of music." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This continues all throughout the lessons. Tony will tell her stories and bits of his mother, the very image of a perfect mother in Tony's eyes. And Arya will not speak a word against it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Arya notes that he never speaks of his father. And Arya knows that his father did remain part of his and Maria Stark's life till the day he died in that car accident. Arya can see what Tony does not, that Maria Stark, this visage of a kind, caring and perfect mother, had her flaws. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maria Stark who as a mother should have protected her child, failed to protect Tony Stark from his father. Perhaps she simply loved a man too much to take action, and love can make one weak to many things. Still though, Arya will not tarnish the only loving memory of her father's parents. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She will resign herself to being looked at with eyes that saw someone else. Someone who lived a life where love became their downfall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't like it was new to her. Her previous father did it too.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. There's a wolf in California</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tony POV</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tony didn't mean to get Arya a wolf for a pet. It was really only supposed to be a dog. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony decides that they won't live in the Malibu residence where he says he lives to the public, and he hated the Stark Mansion where he grew up. They reside in what they have lovingly dubbed the Stark Home. It is a three storey house with a large empty top floor, 3 bedrooms on the second floor, 2 ensuites and a separate guest bathroom. It is as low key as he can go. He uses the entirety of the top floor as his workspace and where the bots reside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On the outside it has all the makings of a typical family house with a back garden and a deck and even a garage. It was their perfect home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They lived right by a forest and was some distance away from neighbours and a 15 minute drive into the nearest town. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The whole conundrum starts when Oshka pointed out that Arya doesn't really have anyone else around her, and as a child she might get a little lonely. Tony agrees with her but he absolutely cannot let Arya be known in public yet. She is still too young.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not like Tony doesn't let her leave their house, he takes her to private beaches or books out a nature reserve or zoo or theatre when she needs a change of pace, and sometimes he wears a blond wig and wears blue contact lenses and puts on a fake beard to wander around the city or go to restaurants with his daughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he draws the line on letting her loose in public places like a kindergarten. She doesn't need it, it's unnecessary because Arya is already on upper elementary school Maths, and is getting the hang of the written form of both the Russian and Italian language, let alone English. She doesn't need kindergarten. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He has a plan to homeschool her at least until Middle School. And he'll probably let her go take out-of-school clubs in a few years and she'll get her peer socialisation then. But elementary school and kindergarten won't teach her anything he can't and she's far too young for him to let her out of sight. No matter how mature she is, he can't risk that she might accidentally tell someone she's his daughter. If he is going to provide her a semi-stable life, she has to be outside of the public eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He resolves to get her a pet. Maybe a cat because she reminds him of one with how light footed she is. Maybe a dog because he's always wanted a dog. Just something so she doesn't get too lonely until he signs her up for those lessons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One day, Arya comes home from playing in the forest with a little puppy held in her hand. He thinks it's a dog at first and agrees to Arya's pleas to keep it as a pet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They take it to the vet to get checked for diseases, that's when he gets slapped with the truth. The puppy cradled in his baby's arms is a wolf. Of what breed even the vet is unsure because for a baby wolf it sure was large. But it's too late at that point. He'd already said yes to Arya and she is already fawning over the wolf more than he's ever seen her with anything. He can't take it away from her now. Since when were there wolves in California anyway?!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The vet gives him a sympathetic smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gets Jarvis to buy books on raising and taming wolves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Daddy!" Arya calls out and he withholds a reluctant sigh "her name is Nymeria!" There is a gleam in her eyes as she pets the baby wolf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's nice dear" Tony says with furrowed brows as he wonders where that name came from. It sounds neither English, Russian or Italian. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snaps out of it after hearing Arya giggle and shrugs. Must be one of those made up names kids come up with, he thinks.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Destined to fail</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Arya has lived on this Earth for 9 beautiful years. And just like in her old world, this is when things start to fall apart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps it's her fault for indulging herself in living in such peace. For not taking care to mind the insects that plagued the air they breathed. For not treasuring her only family in the way she was supposed to, with the ferocity and sharp edges of canine teeth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had grown complacent in sharing sunny days out and wintery nights in, with the man who provided her with everything she could ask for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had grown weak. Powerless. Useless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn't matter if she was out training her feeble body and practicing her sword skills, when she had clearly forgotten why she trained in the first place. <em>Who</em> the training was for. Even then it doesn't matter. She had been looking at this all wrong - wasted years! And now look where that brought her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya is 9 years old when her father is kidnapped, and she couldn't do a thing about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What good was a sword in a world of guns and bombs and tricks?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What good was she to a man suffering on the other side of the world?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps she had always been destined to fail her family.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a bit short so I'm posting two chapters</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Destined to survive</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Tony is kidnapped in the deserts of Afghanistan, his only constant thought was to make it back home, to his daughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He is captured with a man known as Ho Yinsen who says they had met once before at Bern 2000. Tony remembers it halfheartedly, it was 1999 New Year's and not even two weeks since he had taken Arya in. He remembers brushing the man off, he had been halfway to drunk and yet his head was filled with thoughts about his newborn daughter and the babysitter he didn't really trust.</span>
</p><p>Tony recalls the anxiety that had plagued him throughout that whole night, unable to focus on any one person until he just blew the whole thing off and returned back home 4 whole hours before he'd told the babysitter he'd be back.</p><p>
  <span>In the dark of the cave, they make small talk to pass the time, and Yinsen asks him what he's got waiting for him back home. And he tells Yinsen that he has everything he could possibly need because he has his daughter, and he will see her again. The man smiles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the deep of the cave they trade stories about their daughters. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yinsen has two, one called Mina and one called Mitra. They are bright and happy twins not much older than Arya. But something is different in the way they tell their stories. Yinsen does not have the same burning determination he has when he speaks of Arya. Yinsen is not planning on crawling out of this hellhole alive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There is also the grief that betrays him, hidden in the tremor of Yinsen's hands and dullness of his eyes. Perhaps if he had never had Arya he would not have noticed this. It is through raising Arya that he notes the importance of looking behind the mask that people wear. Yinsen's daughters, his family, is dead. This is a man with nothing to live for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony will drag them both out of here alive. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It takes 3 months before he is found. 3 months of feeling helpless all over again and she swears to keep him safe when he returns. And she knows he will return because he has promised her this. He knows Arya will hold it against him if he does not. That is enough to push him home. </p><p>Yinsen doesn't live. No matter how much begging Tony did to get him to stand by, Yinsen only pushed forwards, buying time for Tony to escape.</p><p>"Treasure her" is Yinsen's last words, a smile on his face, and Tony thinks optimistically that maybe he is seeing his family. </p><p>He destroys their captor's headquarters with vengeance.</p><p>It takes all he can give to muddle through the desert heavy legged and hardened heart. He feels the bloodthirst crooning in his chest. The high from his savagery, the adrenaline from grief, kept him moving. And in the desert he hallucinates. </p><p>There is only Arya ahead of him.</p><p>When he returns, he doesn't stop for a burger or a press conference or Obie. He doesn't stop for anything until he gets to his house and Arya is there. </p><p>He holds her tightly in his arms. </p><p>He is safe. </p><p>He is home.</p><p>They both sigh in relief.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heyyyy how y'all doing so here's some new chapters in return for the wait 👍</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. A name is given</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Arya sees the man he has become, he is older and tortured with demons. But Arya knows about demons and she will take care of him as he does her. These demons will be no problem when he returns to her arms. </p><p>She goes to his room that night and finds him struggling with nightmares, so she pulls his head onto her lap and brushes his hair with her fingers. She wills him to feel the love she has for him, humming a lullaby from a time that is neither here nor there. And slowly, he shudders a breath and calms. </p><p>Arya will protect this man who ran to fall at her feet, tired and beaten but all so he could return to her. Nobody had ever returned to her, she always had to come to them. He had given her something irreplaceable. </p><p>She must protect her father, but how? How does she circumvent the youth of her body, the laws of the land? </p><p>Her father calls a meeting with the shareholders to warn them of his decisions to put a stop to weapons manufacturing, he doesn't care for their opinions and simply moves on to holding the press conference to announce the same. He tells the public of the horrors of seeing his own weapons used against him, how there are suspicions of illegal dealings that will need to be investigated and that for now and the foreseeable future, the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries will be shut down. </p><p>There is pushback with some media outlets but Stark Industries is a multinational multibillion industry that is present in near every use of technology. Shutting down the weapons division, though it was its original purpose, would not take much of a toll on the company.</p><p>Arya lets him find his justice with this Iron man he wears. Lets him go and tackle his revenge overseas, but she watches it all through Jarvis who has always put her needs above her father's as he programmed it to be. Meanwhile, she is at home watching the vultures who seek to peck at whatever remains of her father. And she sharpens her blades and polishes her mind. </p><p>It is a slow realisation that she cannot pursue the same methods she did in her previous life. Outright murder is never accepted, always investigated. She must try to adapt. </p><p>Arya has never trusted this Stane who weaves lies like Littlefinger. And she knows deep down her father never trusted him either, why else would he keep his daughter away from his godfather. She gathers evidence first, to comply with the demands of this world's justice.</p><p>It is easy enough to sneak into his belongings with no-one the wiser. It is easy enough to hack into his laptopcomputerphones  with JARVIS beside her. It is even easier still to make copies of his data, and ready a folder for her father to find anonymously. </p><p>She gets carried away though, busying herself with the familiarity of secrecy. It is only thanks to JARVIS' warning that he cannot get in touch with her father that she makes it just in time to stop the man from leaving after pulling out her father's heart. </p><p>Arya stands between him and the exit, and her father lies on the floor of the other room, struggling to drag himself to the arc reactor. She sees that Obadiah underestimates her and leans into the deception, all the while a dagger hides, attached to her thigh. </p><p>"You betrayed my father" she speaks fury ladened heavily in her voice and she knows she will break the promise she made to herself because her father's groans filled with pain and misery fill the air, only a room away.</p><p>She runs to him, kicking the back of his knee and pushing him onto the ground. He is shocked at her swiftness, how trained she is to take down a man more than twice her size and he falls unable to compute. She brandishes her dagger, straddling his torso, knees pressing his arms to the ground "you think you can try to kill a Stark and remain safe?" She pushes the dagger into his sweating skin "A Stark shall be the last thing you see!" she growls and slices his neck without mercy or hesitation. </p><p>She breathes heavily for a while, the first kill of this life creating a twisted sense of nostalgia. It is almost pleasurable. She wonders what that makes her.</p><p>Her father staggers into the room moments later, the arc reactor back in place, hand gripping his chest and horror in his eyes. He does not even look at the body bleeding out beneath her as he rushes to her and hugs her close. </p><p>"I'm sorry baby" he whispers like a mantra "I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Tensions run high</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tony is devastated that she has had to kill at only 9 years old. This was his fault, his negligence that led to this. He does not even note that the cut is clean and straight, that his daughter does not shake with guilt, that her eyes are steady in the wake of her actions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There is no trial for Iron man, as there is no battle with the ironmonger. Instead, Tony outs Obadiah for his role in his kidnapping and plot to murder, how it was Tony who acted in self-defence as he was dying and killed the man who sought to kill him. How his daughter had found him and placed his arc reactor back on so he could continue to live. The news is a sensation and is not questioned with all the evidence he found of Obadiah's backdoor dealings, of the brief video footage of Obadiah leaning over him in his workshop and taunting him as he dies. The question of Iron Man is put to rest until the news dies down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His daughter is closer to him now. Rarely does she leave his side. And he finds it easy to be honest with her about everything. He does not even question that his daughter is a child and should not be burdened with his worries, because he knows his daughter is strange and older than she seems. He tells her about the palladium poisoning and promises he will do everything to cure it, but he needs her to be prepared to inherit everything he has ever had. She nods and promises to help with research. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She does not like the new assistant and tells her father this. Tony's guard raises, he has always trusted her to see what he cannot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His trust in his daughter is put to good use when he digs the woman's involvement in SHIELD. A shadowy intelligence agency with skeletons to fill a cemetary. Now he wonders how to play the game with her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His choice is made for him when she jokes about whether she will be taking care of his daughter soon as a glorified babysitter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony's eyes sharpen at the very mention of his daughter and his voice goes hard when he tells her "you will not even see a hair on the head of my daughter, Natasha Romanov" he nearly screams "I know who you are and who you work for, you will leave now and tell Fury this, one toe out of line and I will end what my father built" he is very nearly spitting, but the threat they pose to his daughter is immense and he will let none harm his only family. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Romanov nods and leaves. She can see a lost fight when she is presented with it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rewrites her report on him the same day because she knows now for sure that whatever he has given her previously were all lies in the face of this one truth. Tony Stark will move Heaven and Earth for his daughter; approach with caution. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fury meets with him the next day and reaches an agreement as he hands over a box of Howard's things. Tony will act as consultant and they will pay for his services. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finds a cure for the poisoning and a new element in one go, and he embraces his daughter the next second. He thanks whatever god is out there for giving him more time.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Y'all made some good suggestions in the comments last time, but I already had most of the chapter written so sorry if your idea doesn't get realised 😅. Hope you like what I've done with it though 👍</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Of Spies and Starks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>SHIELD/Natasha POV?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tony Stark has been a rising figure since the announcement of his daughter in January 2000. It was as if the new millennia brought about a new Tony Stark. One who, not necessarily, shied away from the media but very much became instantly more private than ever before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It starts with less news of his scandalous escapades and eccentric debacles. It grows with his company's expansion into communications technology with the release of mobile phones and tablets a decade away from other companies, dragging fellow competitors into the future. It expands with his company's international outreach, and advocation for green and clean energy, implementing reusable sources in various parts of the world with a focus on third world countries. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stark Industries might be largely known for its weapons in America but on the international plane they are lauded for their advancements in technology and humanitarianism. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is for this reason that SHIELD is highly wary of Tony Stark's position. A position in which one man has access to military, media, money and political power, on a growing scale. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They made no move however to investigate further than needed because, in all honesty, he did not seem to possess any goals apart from the direction of his company, and of course, the protection of his hidden daughter. The identity of which even their best hackers could not find. In any case, they had him on file.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fury stepped in only when Iron Man came into play. A weaponised suit of technological marvel, one that could change the methods of warfare in the drop of a hat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Agent Romanoff was sent to profile him after the Stane post-mortem trial. The information was all expected, at first. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Romanoff found him arrogant and narcissistic, a tendency to flirt and a penchant for dramatics. All of this very much coinciding with previous profiles during his younger years, nothing new. They could certainly play him like this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there were certain things that stuck out. They knew the man was dying, investigations depicted the role of palladium poisoning. They knew it. But he didn't spiral like he should, he didn't fall for the Black Widow's tricks. And on his birthday he didn't even show up to the Stark Industries party. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And when Natasha made the simple slightly sly joke involving his daughter, it hit her why he evaded her for so long. He knew all along who she was, who she worked for. He had played her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It irritated her to be bested by a civilian. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fury of course, didn't show a hint of surprise at her report, only mentioning that it was time to move to plan B and handing her a different mission entirely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't be too upset Widow" Fury said "He's a Stark after all." </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. No one's Greed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Arya Stark is a creature of Greed. She wants and she wants and she </span>
  <em>
    <span>takes. </span>
  </em>
  <span>There is no hold nor barrier that can keep her from her desires.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And what she wants? What she wants is her father safe and secure and happy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Vanko and Hammer never become much of an issue for Tony Stark. Not when his daughter has already started to clean up the pests hovering around him. Though, he isn't really aware of this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the initial incident at the Monaco Grand Prix and Vanko is captured, Arya makes sure the man dies in the prison he is held in. She brushes up on some old skills to make it work, skills from lessons that have never left her soul. She takes the face of a guard and uses it to infiltrate the prison he is kept in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man eyes her movement as she walks into the room and locks the door behind her. He sits chained to the table, across from her "you're not my assigned guard" Vanko says in a thick accent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She's a little annoyed, she knows she's rusty -years without practice and a body displacement will do that to you- but surely not this much. She contemplates just getting it over with but she always did like playing with her food. She rips the mask away and replies in Russian "I am not". </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You are a little girl, how do you have such technology? Why are you here?" He asks with narrowed eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You may not know me but I'm sure you've heard of my name" Arya says softly. She is a lot softer looking in this world, none of the wildness of her past seeps into her image. She is refined looking with her father's jawline and cheekbones but her eyes have the doe look to them that makes her face seem innocent instead of mischievous like before. It is a face that lessens people's guards. "My name is Arya Stark, daughter of Tony Stark" she continues "you blamed my father for the sins of his father." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Stark" he almost growled "I did not know he had such face changing technology. Why are you here Stark spawn?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya frowns "I told you, you blamed my father for the sins of his father. You threatened my father's life. I must pay back in kind." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanko laughs loudly and heartily, but when that dies away he notices the unmoved figure and face of Stark's child and becomes wary. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What can you do to me?" He asks curiously, his mockery of her age and gender dying in her apathy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Surely, you can understand the lengths one will go to for a slight against their father? I've killed people who have hurt my father before" she whispers "you've heard of Stane have you not?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The news said-" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What kind of father would allow their child to become known as a killer?" She looks at him knowingly "but this is enough chat, you have become a threat to my father, and I cannot tolerate threats." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanko grits his teeth and glares, a curious look on his face "are you even Stark's daughter?" He murmurs as she unsheathes her chosen weapon, a dagger. She has the looks, he can admit, but everything about her is all wrong. A staggering difference from Stark who walks with swagger and charisma and arrogance, she walks lightfooted, predatory and with clarity. And the eyes are all wrong because he does not see the naive glint he saw in Stark's eyes, one that held burning hope and fragility in the same second. Instead it is eyes of death, dull coloured, sharp focused eyes with no hope, only forged steel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiles, a grim little thing "I am No one"  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes his death with as much dignity as a man imprisoned can and looks at her clear in the eyes as she plunges her dagger through his heart with ease. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She twists it, just a little, in irritation and is satisfied to hear his groan heighten in pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not a moment later she wears Vanko's face just in time for Hammer to walk in. Vanko's body sat slumped in the corner on chair and dressed up as a guard to avoid suspicion. She hears his proposal to build drones for him and figures that sooner or later Hammer will become a pest. And if she was being honest, she needed some more practice anyways. She kills him then and there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His screams alerted the guards. When the guards come it is to two dead bodies. They write it off as an escape attempt gone wrong, and with no working footage, they really couldn't say anything more.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you guys so much for all the love! I didn't realise y'all would like this so much!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. New school, New me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They move to New York in 2012 and she starts the year as a new student at Midtown Middle School. An escalator school focusing on STEM. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya has never been to school. She's watched TV shows and movies but her father was never allowed to go to school before. The whole thing is new. They didn't even have schools in her old world, everything she learned was from her parents or caretakers or the handful of mentors she managed to gain along the way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This world was far more structured, and education was more centralised. Knowledge was shared. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright sweetheart, you got everything?" Tony fusses because at heart he is a mother hen who hates the fact that he can't hover over her and protect her from every little thing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes dad" she rolls her eyes fondly "books, pencil case, phone, wallet - everything is great" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just call me if you need anything" he brushes a lock of hair from her face "or JARVIS, your big brother worries too you know?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Dad" she groans "I'll be fine, it's school not another planet" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony snorts in reply "school is basically a whole different dimension kiddo. I hated school, however brief the time I spent there."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya gives him a look "real encouraging dad."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighs and smiles back at her "I'm just worried honey, you know we could just homeschool you all the way till college right? Do you really have to leave me baby?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pepper puts a supportive hand on Tony's shoulder but her face is filled with exasperation "it's middle school Tony, she'll be back in the afternoon" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah dad, I promise I'll be fine, Ned's already there yknow? I've already got a friend." She feels a little less nervous knowing one of her classmates was at least someone she knows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ned Leeds was someone she met at her martial arts studio a year ago. She was a senior student at Muay Thai and he had just started learning, the teacher had put her in charge of leading the newbies through the exercises. Arya thought he was a riot, the boy made the most hilarious comments and he was incredibly sweet as well. They managed to hit it off during their breaks and ended up becoming good friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony narrows his eyes "Ted? Who is this Ted?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She slaps his chest gently "Ned dad! From Muay Thai." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't care who he is, he doesn't deserve you. I don't want to hear about you having boyfriends - or girlfriends! - until you're 30!" Tony is serious about this, he knows the pervy nature of teenage boys and men in general, he is one of them. He will not let his daughter be a victim to playboys or playgirls or whatever they call ne'er-do-wells nowadays. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure dad" she pats his arm reassuringly "whatever you say dad" and she walks away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Call me when you get there!" Tony calls out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They now live in the new Stark tower that blesses the New York skyline. Them and several other Stark employees. The tower had apartments reserved for Stark employees requiring accommodations as a result of relocation or out of state hiring. Arya's cover was that she was one of the employee's kids and thus able to come and go the Stark tower with ease. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her public name was Arya Carbonell. Her father said that she can take up the Stark name as soon as she finishes college or when she turns 18. Whichever comes first. Because there is some part of him that expects her to graduate as early as him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya's not too fussed either way, she likes being inconspicuous, it makes doing some things a lot easier to do. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She buses it to school and she had to argue with her dad five times because 'no dad sending me to school in a sports car with a chauffeur is not a good standard for secrecy'. She knows her father is smart, but sometimes he's really stupid. Or dramatic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Arya!" Ned's waiting her by the school entrance, sensitive to the fact that it's her first time ever at a school "how're you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya leaps off the bus and hugs him tight "I'm good Ned thanks!" She says brightly. He reminds her of Hot pie and Micah all rolled into one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A voice hesitates beside them "ummm hi" she releases Ned from her hold and turns to face another boy who is - normal, to say the least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hi, I'm Arya" she grins hoping to look pleasant. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy gives her a weak smile "I'm Peter, Peter Parker" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We went to the same elementary school!" Ned adds "he's totally awesome Arya I promise, he likes Star Wars!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya laughs because of course Ned would think that liking the movie is a threshold for awesomeness "that's nice Ned" she giggles turning to Peter "I like Star Wars too, it's nice to meet you" she holds out a hand to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter's returning smile is brighter this time and he shakes her hand enthusiastically. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>School doesn't seem too bad at all.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Alright I may have changed the timeline a bit. Yes Peter is the same age as Arya. He's born in 2000 in this fic, so it's only a little bit changed. </p><p>This is kind of like a filler chapter, I need to make the sense that time is moving forward and not just jump into the next thing like last time. I feel like I churned out events the last couple of chapters.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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